California Governor Jerry Brown at Intersolar 2014

For the second year in a row, California Governor Jerry Brown opened Intersolar 2014, part of the Semicon West conference in San Francisco, with a rousing keynote address supporting solar power and calling for renewed efforts to combat the urgent problem of climate change for the sake of future generations.

San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee spoke next, along with New York State Senator Kevin S. Parker, Franz Untersteller, environmental minister from Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the CALSEIA.

“There is a real mining of the imagination, even more powerful than the mining of the Sierras for gold. And as we mine our imaginations, we have to invent not just gadgets and clever ways of doing whatever, we have to keep our eye on the big goal, and the big goal is certainly to build a more equitable and just society, but one that is just to all the creatures and to ourselves over time.and that’s why solar is so important, but along with all the other sources of energy, and along with all the ways that we can adjust how we and the generations that come after us can live in a way humanity will continue and we won’t devastate this wonderful gift of creation.” ~ Governor Brown

“We have a long way to go, and while it’s very exciting to be with like minded people, it’s well to just take a pause and realize that the track we’re on now is not sustainable, we have to make a turn, and a shift. Any time you’re talking about an organism, physical or political, those shifts aren’t that easy to make.” ~ Jerry Brown